当你死的时候，你希望你的身体变成堆肥吗?

当你死的时候，你希望你的身体变成堆肥吗?

Many people like the idea of planting a tree next to the grave of a loved one so their bodies can live on, in a sense, by providing nutrients that get absorbed by the tree. But would you ever want to forgo the casket and the grave, and have your remains directly transformed into compost?

许多人喜欢在亲人的墓旁种一棵树，这样在某种意义上，通过提供被树吸收的营养，他们的身体就能继续生存。但是你会想放弃棺材和坟墓，让你的遗体直接变成堆肥吗?

Would you plant a garden using compost of your loved ones? (Photo: Nate Steiner [public domain]/Flickr)

Washington, which earlier this year became the first state to legalize human composting, is giving residents options beyond burial or cremation.

今年早些时候，华盛顿成为美国第一个将人类堆肥合法化的州。

"People from all over the state who wrote to me are very excited about the prospect of becoming a tree or having a different alternative for themselves," state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, who sponsored the bill, told NBC News when the bill was passed.

“全州写信给我的人都对成为一棵树的前景感到非常兴奋，或者他们自己有一个不同的选择，”州参议员杰米·佩德森在法案通过后告诉NBC新闻。佩德森是该法案的发起人。

As a result of that legislation, the first human composting site is on a path to open its doors in spring 2021 in Seattle.

由于这项立法，第一个人类堆肥场将于2021年春天在西雅图开业。

The law allows for the "recomposition" of human remains, a process that speeds up decomposition and turns the remains into nutrient-packed soil, which can be used as the family sees fit. That's where Seattle's Recompose gets its name and its mission: "Recompose takes guidance from nature. At the heart of our model is a system that will gently return us to the earth after we die."

法律允许对遗体进行“重新组合”，这一过程会加速遗体的分解，并将遗体转化为营养丰富的土壤，供家人根据自己的意愿使用。这就是西雅图“重新组合”这个名字的由来和它的使命:“重新组合需要大自然的指引。”我们的模型的核心是一个系统，它将在我们死后轻轻地把我们送回地球。”

The facility, which looks nothing like a traditional funeral home, will house 75 hexagonal-shaped vessels where bodies will be stored for decomposition. The breakdown takes about 30 days using wood chips, alfalfa and straw.

这个设施看起来一点也不像传统的殡仪馆，它将容纳75个六边形的容器，尸体将被储存在那里腐烂。使用木屑、紫花苜蓿和稻草，大约需要30天才能分解。

Cycle of life?

生命周期?

While some people might think there's something eerily cannibalistic about eating crops that were planted in grandma's remains, it's also a way of perpetuating the cycle of life that all of our food grows from. This is the mental hurdle that has likely prevented human composting from being legalized until recently.

虽然有些人可能会认为吃那些在祖母的遗体上种植的作物是一种可怕的同类相食的行为，但这也是一种让我们所有食物生长的生命循环得以延续的方式。这可能是阻碍人类堆肥直到最近才合法化的心理障碍。

Using science and recomposition does have some practical benefits that are worth considering as well.

使用科学和重组确实有一些实际的好处，也值得考虑。

For one, it's more economical. A traditional burial costs an average of $7,000, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Recomposition will cost around $5,500. Moreover, composting is far healthier for the environment. No toxic embalming fluids are used, and the resultant nutrient-rich soil has a green thumb use.

首先，它更经济。根据国家丧葬承办人协会的数据，传统的葬礼平均花费7000美元。重新组合将花费大约5500美元。此外，堆肥对环境更健康。没有使用有毒的防腐液，因此富含营养的土壤是绿色的。

There are safeguards in place to ensure that no harmful pathogens survive the recomposition process, which has been another sticking point in previous attempts to legalize human composting. A study led by researcher Lynne Carpenter-Boggs at Washington State University, which recomposed six donor bodies in a carefully controlled environment, has demonstrated that the process is safe.

有适当的保障措施，以确保没有有害的病原体在重组过程中存活下来，这是之前试图使人类堆肥合法化的另一个症结。华盛顿州立大学研究人员琳恩·卡彭特-博格斯领导的一项研究表明，这种方法是安全的。